


love if we made it

by ophelialilies



Series: if you want to find love (then you know where the city is) [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Setting – New York City, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Donghyuck is a model, Implied Sexual Content, Love, M/M, Mark is a musician, Paparazzi, Press and Tabloids, Romance, as always, they are very much in loveeee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:15:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24532909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ophelialilies/pseuds/ophelialilies
Summary: Donghyuck and Mark just want to be in love without the entire world watching.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: if you want to find love (then you know where the city is) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1768291
Comments: 20
Kudos: 284





	love if we made it

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to part two of three in this series ! this is in collaboration with the wonderful anca [(@sooyoonies)](https://twitter.com/sooyoonies)! she made two visuals to go with this work, you can find them [here](https://twitter.com/ophelialilies/status/1268456203257933826)! they also appear at the beginning of this work ♡
> 
> the title of this story comes from the 1975’s song of the same name! it’s a beautiful song ♡ thank you to [ix](https://twitter.com/hyuckie_pie) for inspiring this idea! and thank you to [macka](https://twitter.com/fiddle_styyx) and [lilac](https://twitter.com/neoneversIeeps) for beta-ing this! 
> 
> i will see you at the end! happy reading ! 🌷
> 
> (important links in the end notes!)

_Musician Mark Lee and runway model Lee Donghyuck spotted arriving at the same hotel on Saturday evening, local news reports._

Cameras flash as the car door slams shut behind him. Donghyuck takes in the sight, a sea of dozens of reporters and photographers alike, all waiting for him. Some of them are speaking, shouting words Donghyuck can’t really hear amongst the white noise, overwhelmed by the chaos of it all.

_“What was it like modelling for the Vogue Italia?”_

_“What’s your opinion on Mark Lee’s new album?”_

_“How are you feeling about New York Fashion Week?”_

_“What’s your connection to Mark Lee?”_

Donghyuck dips his head out of instinct, moving through the sea of bodies with only his bodyguards to protect him. They create a circle around him, the only boundary between him and the paparazzi, and track his movements through the crowd as if compelled by magnetism. 

His bodyguards follow him until he reaches the sliding lobby doors, knowing that the crowd won’t overstep at least this unspoken boundary. 

Donghyuck shoots the crowd a quick smile — only hearing fragments of the questions that they’re still shouting at him — with the knowledge that this moment will no doubt be on the inside of every media platform tomorrow. He steps through the doors, and they close behind him, leaving him in silence as he turns to face his bodyguards.

“You can go now,” he says with a polite smile. “I’ll be okay.”

They give him a professional bow before moving away, walking back through the lobby doors and out to the limousine where Donghyuck knows they will wait for him. How long they will have to, he’s not sure.

He walks the familiar path to the elevators, waiting patiently for one to arrive. There’s another woman waiting nearby, only a few metres away, and Donghyuck knows that she’s watching him. When an elevator arrives she doesn’t get in. 

Donghyuck moves inside, making eye contact with her through the doors. He gestures toward the interior, asking the silent question of whether she is going to enter or not. She shakes her head with an amused smile.

“After you,” she says, and Donghyuck doesn’t have time to respond as the doors close and he’s left alone in the grand elevator with mirrors for walls. 

Across the space a reflection of himself stares back, the picture of a boy, of a white shirt and high waisted jeans, black hightop converse and curly brown hair, earrings to match. It’s been some time since Donghyuck last cut his hair, and so it looks messy and grown out, but he doesn’t really mind. There’s a reason that he keeps it this way. There’s someone who also likes it just like this.

He’s still thinking of that certain someone when the doors slide open again with a soft _ding!_

Donghyuck steps out into the hallway, walking the familiar path to their room with admittedly hasty strides. He turns one corner and then another, _room 403_ coming into view. A smile makes its way to Donghyuck’s lips as his heart starts to flutter in his chest. 

He knocks on the door, three times so that the person behind it knows who it is.

Only a few moments later the door is swinging open, and Donghyuck is greeted by the gorgeous sight of Mark Lee in all his glory; messy black hair, a casual tank top tucked into skinny jeans, a chain draped around his neck and stylish shoes on his feet.

“Hi,” Mark says, and Donghyuck watches his lips move, missing the way they taste now more than ever that the other boy is right in front of him.

“Hi,” Donghyuck repeats, smile growing wider and Mark is smiling too, and soon he’s being pulled inside the room by a hand curled in his shirt. The door is slammed shut and he’s pressed against it, pulled into a kiss that leaves him breathless, leaves his head reeling. One of Mark’s hands is at his waist, the other cupping his cheek gently, and god had he missed this. 

There’s a sweet taste on Mark’s lips, something between honey and sugar, and Donghyuck feels like he’s drunk on it, high on the feeling. 

They pull apart after a long while, both trying to catch their breaths. It’s been weeks since they’d seen each other, but it had felt like much longer.

“I missed you,” Donghyuck whispers against Mark’s lips where they’re parted to allow him to breathe.

“I missed you too, Hyuck,” Mark responds, and Donghyuck giggles at the way Mark’s lips move against his as he speaks. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy recently.”

“It’s okay, Mark,” Donghyuck is quick to respond, pulling his head away until it rests against the door to get a better look at the other boy. Mark’s lips are pink and slightly swollen, the sight making butterflies flutter in Donghyuck’s stomach, despite everything. “If anyone understands, it’s me.”

“You’re right,” Mark says through a smile, leaning forward until their foreheads are touching. “I’m still sorry, though.”

And Donghyuck wants to laugh at how silly that is, because he’s proud of Mark, happy for him and not the least bit (okay, maybe a little bit) bothered by the time they spend apart. 

He knows they will always have the next time – the next time they can manage to see each other, if only for a minute behind a closed door.

“Well, if you’re so sorry, why don’t you make it up to me?” Donghyuck says, batting his eyelashes innocently. He’s joking – Mark knows he’s joking – but the other boy indulges Donghyuck and his games anyway.

“Anything you had in mind?” Mark asks, and there’s something intense in his voice, hidden beneath the innocent question.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Donghyuck sighs, his tone feigning disinterest, lifting a hand to play with Mark’s hair. “I suppose you could kiss me again?”

And that’s how Donghyuck finds himself pressed against the hotel bed, Mark above him and their lips meeting halfway. 

Mark kisses him senseless, with much more desperation and intensity than he had before, something Donghyuck hadn’t thought to be possible. He licks inside Donghyuck’s mouth, and when Donghyuck runs out of breath, gasping for air, he kisses at Donghyuck’s ear, down his neck and along his collarbones, until Donghyuck is reduced to nothing but a moaning mess; hands curled into the bed sheets and clothes thrown on the hotel room floor.

He had missed this more than he would like to admit, but part of him knows that it wasn’t just this that he had missed. It was Mark. 

That thought lingers in his mind as he curls against Mark’s naked body, damp with sweat and covered in love bites left there by Donghyuck moments ago. He sighs pleasantly, basking in the after sex glow that dances in Mark’s eyes too, in his lazy smile and the blush on his cheeks.

Donghyuck draws circles in his chest, a lazy smile of his own on his lips, a moment that is unfortunately spoiled by the looming thought that this may come to an end, and rather soon.

He had thought he’d be okay, strong enough to say goodbye, to keep things a secret, to sneak around. Admittedly it had been fun at first, the secrecy of it all, but part of him wishes that he could hold Mark’s hand as they walk down the street, or that he could kiss him in the crowd without a care in the world. Without worrying who may be watching. 

An idea, sudden but loud, demanding to be heard, comes to mind.

“Mark?” Donghyuck asks, his voice coming out rough through the pleasant silence that had fallen. Mark hums in response, pulling Donghyuck closer.

“What’s up?”

“I had an idea,” Donghyuck starts, still tracing circles on Mark’s skin, which somehow always manages to look pale, as if under the flash of a camera. “What if we sneak out?”

Donghyuck feels Mark tense at that, as if suddenly more alert. He pulls back a little, shifting so that their eyes can meet once more. The corner of his lip is pulled back slightly in the ghost of a smile, one that already likes Donghyuck’s idea without fully understanding it. “Sneak out? What do you mean?”

“We could use the back door, get lost in the city for a while,” Donghyuck continues, and even he can hear a hint of desperation in his voice, the part of him that wishes for a normal evening with Mark, just once. “Let’s be anonymous, just for one night.”

There’s a tense silence as Mark’s brows furrow, weighing his options, thinking through Donghyuck’s proposal. With every moment that passes, Donghyuck grows more tense, his heart already starting to sink at the thought that perhaps Mark will say no.

He’s proved wrong, though, when Mark speaks again. “Let’s do it.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” Mark says, rolling them so that Donghyuck is on his back again, Mark hovering above him. A full smile has replaced the partial one from earlier, and Donghyuck basks in the other boy’s beauty for a moment; the way his cheekbones glint in the soft light, the way his eyes seem to sparkle despite the darkness, the way his nose scrunches as he lowers himself to kiss Donghyuck again. “Anything for you, my love.”

The words are so simple, but they still make Donghyuck’s heart race, make him blush a pretty shade of red. He’s still thinking about them as they shower, as they get dressed again and as they head out the door and into the night. 

Mark gives him another reason to blush when he interlaces their hands in the hallway without shame, without even a lick of hesitance. They take the fire escape down to the ground level, a dingy door which opens onto a grungy backstreet alley so unlike the glamour of the hotel lobby. It smells a little and there’s a strange looking cat, but Donghyuck loves it. Loves every part of it.

They take the back route, avoiding the main streets where both of their teams are waiting with cars ready to whisk them away from the crowds of reporters. They walk as far as they can in the opposite direction, until they’re lost in the bends and curves of downtown New York, just another faceless pair of people in love in a big city.

Soon they find themselves in a quaint underground bar, sipping on cocktails under a vintage chandelier. Despite the small size of the bar, it’s buzzing with noise, with chatter and laughter, the carefree sounds of a Friday evening.

Perhaps it’s the alcohol or the intoxicating feeling of being in public with Mark, but Donghyuck finds himself wrapping a hand around Mark’s tank top – now concealed beneath his denim jacket – and pulling him close.

Mark tastes like cherries and apples now, sweeter than anything Donghyuck has had before. He hums into the kiss, and suddenly his cheeks feel warm, his everything feels warm, under the dim lighting of the bar. Mark sighs into the kiss with equal fervour, not a hint of hesitance on his lips.

“I don’t want to sneak around, anymore,” Donghyuck hears himself say when they pull apart, without really intending to. Either way, he meant it, and so he watches Mark as his eyes widen only to curve into half moons again, his face melting into a smile.

“Are you sure?” Mark asks, but there’s so much hope in his voice too, his tone speaking much louder than his words.

“Yes,” Donghyuck says resolutely, taking the other boy’s hands in his. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Okay,” Mark responds, smiling wider yet, and his eyes are sparkling again, like they had in the hotel room only hours prior. “Let’s stop, then,” he says before pulling Donghyuck into another kiss for the umpteenth time that evening.

As they walk home later into the night, hand in hand despite the publicity of the open street, Donghyuck realises that when he suggested that they be anonymous for an evening, it turned out to be not just for an evening, but for much longer than that.

That alone is enough to make him smile like an idiot, and Mark must notice, because a laugh escapes his lips and soon he’s turning to face Donghyuck, a warm smile on his lips.

“What?”

“Nothing, I’m just happy.”

There’s a pause, Mark’s eyes never leaving Donghyuck even once he looks away, blushing slightly and choosing to focus on the footpath instead. When Mark speaks again after a moment, Donghyuck can hear the smile in his voice, knowing that it’s grown wider.

“Me too.”

⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆

Donghyuck’s heart hammers in his chest, the way it always does before he steps out, despite years of experience. There’s always room for nerves to creep their way in, to dance with the energy and excitement he feels before a walk. He takes a deep breath in, and then out again, focusing on the floor in front of him.

The music changes and the stage assistant signals to him that it’s his time, and so he moves forward, turning the corner and entering the stage. One foot in front of the other, Donghyuck walks with confidence, with his infamous air of nonchalance and beauty that had made him so famous so fast within the fashion industry. Cameras flash, blinding white lights amongst the dark sea of the crowd, trapping him inside a photo. 

Tomorrow he will see photographs from this moment inside the pages of Vogue, digital paintings of him in a yellow jacket, white mesh top covering tan skin, a black beaded necklace around his neck and white belt around his waist.

Donghyuck reaches the end of the runway, posing for only a moment, giving the photographers only the briefest of seconds to capture him before he turns to continue his path. 

When he reaches the end, exiting the stage and entering backstage, he releases a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Adrenaline still runs hot through his veins and his heart hammers in his chest, not quite ready to calm down. 

He leans against a wall, pressing his back there to ground him. Other models, staff and designers wander past, greeting him shyly or complimenting him on his walk. He gives them all polite smiles, finding himself hoping each time a new face appears that it might belong to one boy in particular.

As if by magic that wish comes true. The last face to appear and the only one that really matters to Donghyuck belongs to Mark, with that same head of dark hair he had become so fond of, except this evening he’s dressed in a designer suit, shiny shoes to match and a singular earring dangling from his left ear that catches the light.

“You were incredible,” Mark says, and it warms Donghyuck’s heart, at the thought that he had been watching, that he’s here now.

“You saw my show?” Donghyuck asks, just to confirm that it’s real.

“Of course,” Mark continues, his gaze unwavering but warm nonetheless. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” And maybe it’s those words alone, or it’s the warmth blooming in his chest, but Donghyuck finds himself reaching forward until their lips are connecting once more. 

It’s an intoxicating thing, kissing Mark, and Donghyuck is like a bee, drunk on the sweet nectar of a flower in bloom. He keeps coming back and he can never seem to get enough.

They part for air, their foreheads still touching, and Donghyuck watches Mark’s lips, the way they still smile as he pants, trying to catch his breath. 

Eventually Mark has to pull away, they have to leave the privacy of their spot in the corner of the dressing room because a new wave of models are entering, preparing for the next show. That same pre-show buzz fills the room again, chatter and nervous energy, clothes and makeup thrown this way and that and the everlasting scent of perfume. 

Donghyuck loves it all, because amongst the chaos, he can find focus. It just so happens that the thing that grounds him comes in the form of Mark Lee.

“Are you ready to go?” Mark asks, his eyes fond and warm despite the chaos around them. Donghyuck smiles, only then noticing that the slight height difference between them has been inverted. Usually Mark is slightly taller than Donghyuck, but today the latter wears tall boots, for once making him slightly taller than the other boy.

Mark doesn’t seem to mind, though, for he tilts his chin up slightly to plant a kiss on Donghyuck’s forehead, interlacing their fingers.

“Yeah, I am,” Donghyuck sighs more than says, a pleasant feeling in his chest. Mark smiles again, that gorgeous smile that Donghyuck can’t seem to get enough of, and with their hands intertwined they leave backstage. Mark guides them out the door, weaving through the hallways of the fashion hall until they reach the lobby. 

The other boy moves as if toward the front, where only two glass sliding doors are protecting them from the red carpet, hoards of photographers and eager reporters waiting for them.

“Aren’t we taking the back exit?” Donghyuck asks, unable to hide his confusion. His heart is racing as he tries to understand what’s happening. Mark pauses, turning to face him, momentarily releasing his hand only to interlace them together again once they’re facing each other.

“Donghyuck,” Mark says, his tone serious and his voice clear. “We don’t need to hide, anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Donghyuck asks, because even though he knows that they agreed to no more sneaking around, it’s become so familiar, like a dance he could do blind, and the concept of not having to do it anymore is still foreign.

“I mean,” Mark leans closer, and Donghyuck can smell cherries and apples on his breath (it mustn’t have just been the drink he had the other night, he thinks). “If you’re comfortable with it, I’d like us to make it official. No more hiding. Let’s walk out there, together, and let them see.”

Mark’s words are heavy, heavy with the weight of something new, something potentially risky. Something Donghyuck hadn’t thought could even be possible, but the thought of loving Mark without any inhibition, without a worry in the world, makes his heart sing and his mind soar. 

So, with a warm feeling in his chest, one that melts away all of the nerves and the doubts, Donghyuck nods his head.

“Okay,” he says. “I want that.” (He also wants to say _so badly_ , but he knows that Mark can always hear the words that he doesn’t voice).

Mark releases one of his hands so that they stand side by side, two bodies intertwined in the middle by their fingers and perhaps a little more. They begin to walk toward the exit of the lobby, Donghyuck’s boots clicking against the marble floor, his heart beating in his chest in a strange way that reminds him of walking the catwalk. The glass doors slide open, and as they do, Mark squeezes his hand reassuringly. Donghyuck squeezes back.

Into the cameras they walk, suddenly bathed in flashing white light and loud, insistent questions, ignoring it all because they have each other, and even in this overwhelming, frightening moment, all Donghyuck can think of is the boy beside him, and how lucky he is to have found him, a soul just like his own in such a lonely city.

_Musician Mark Lee and runway model Lee Donghyuck confirmed to be dating after a successful New York Fashion Week show, local news reports._

⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆

**Author's Note:**

> i’d love it if we made it ♡
> 
> bonjour! what did you think? if you liked it please leave a kudos or let me know in the comments! the third and final part of this series is coming tomorrow! 
> 
> for more information on how to help the blm movement, please check out this [carrd](https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/). even just signing a petition and sharing it with others makes a difference! please also sign this petition regarding the junk terror bill in the Phillipines ! you can find it [here](https://www.change.org/p/junk-the-anti-terrorism-bill-and-uphold-human-rights?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22475003_en-US%3Av3&recruiter=1094465115&recruited_by_id=2be78640-a076-11ea-94b9-4b26c0d86cf8&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial).
> 
> stay safe and lots of love,  
> ophelia 🌷
> 
> come find me ! [twitter](https://twitter.com/ophelialilies) & [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/ophelialilies)


End file.
